May: Zahir Berry, 1st grader at Mastery Pastorius Charter, Philadelphia, PA

This adorable little boy recently turned 7 years old. He is quite the performer. Zahir loves to sing and tell jokes because it makes others happy. Everywhere he goes, he loves to meet people and give women hugs and men handshakes. Zahir has a large family. He is one of seven siblings so he always has people to interact with. He is their happy and carefree social butterfly.

Zahir was diagnosed in June of 2015 when he was just 6 years old. He was having bad headaches and vomiting. So, his family brought him to St. Christopher’s where he had an MRI and cat scan. This is when they noticed the tumor. Zahir was diagnosed with AT/RT which is a rare brain tumor. He is currently being treated with chemotherapy treatments and will follow up with radiation.

“God’s Angel” is what his family calls him. Zahir has so much joy and love to share. They can’t wait for the day that he is cancer free and can live a normal childhood.

Information provided by his grandmother, Marlene Berry.